


Begin the Beguine

by truth_renowned



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Heavy Angst, peggysous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 17:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7542139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truth_renowned/pseuds/truth_renowned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A trip back to California after being away for so many years. Inspired by the 30s song Begin the Beguine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Begin the Beguine

**Author's Note:**

> Begin the Beguine lyrics by Cole Porter.

She returned to where it all started: Los Angeles. As she drove, the oldies station playing a slow tune, she thought about where she was. They had not been in the city for many years but this place never left their minds or their hearts. It made sense to be here now. It’s where they began their lives together. 

She drove past the storefront of the Auerbach Theatrical Agency, now a drug store. She smiled as she thought about what happened in that small office on the second floor so many years ago. Who knew one kiss in an office chair would change their lives so drastically? When the SSR was absorbed into SHIELD, he took that chair with him, putting it in his new office at SHIELD. The chair still was in his office, aging gracefully just as they had over the past thirty years.

Her smile faded as she saw the turnoff that would lead them to their destination. Michael and Beth offered to accompany them but she knew it was a trip that just the two of them needed to make. Like it was in the beginning, just the two of them.

She turned up the radio when one of her favorite songs started to play. She looked at the passenger seat, memories flooding her mind as the lyrics filled the car.

> _When they begin the beguine_  
>  _It brings back the sound of music so tender,_  
>  _It brings back a night of tropical splendour,_  
>  _It brings back a memory evergreen._

> _I'm with you once more under the stars,_    
>  _And down by the shore an orchestra's playing_  
>  _And even the palms seem to be swaying_  
>  _When they begin the beguine._

When they were dating, he would move the cocktail table in the living room to clear a space. Then he would offer his hand to her, hold her close and they would sway to the music. This song was faster than most but every time it played on the radio, he would turn it up and they would dance. His moves were neither smooth nor graceful, but she didn’t care. Her favorite place to be was in his arms.

> _To live it again is past all endeavour,_  
>  _Except when that tune clutches my heart,_  
>  _And there we are, swearing to love forever,_  
>  _And promising never, never to part._

> _What moments divine, what rapture serene,_    
>  _Till clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted,_  
>  _And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,_  
>  _I know but too well what they mean;_

As she pulled up to the pier, she couldn’t help but smile. This was where he gingerly got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage. It didn’t matter that it was pouring down rain. It didn’t matter that there was thunder crashing around them, nearly drowning out his voice. She loved him and he loved her, and that proposal started them on a journey she would take again with him in a heartbeat.

Their lives together weren’t the standard definition of perfect. It wasn’t all wine and roses, as the saying goes, but it was their version of perfect. Their jobs were demanding, more demanding than most. However, through the hard and dangerous work, they lived a full and fulfilled life together. There were times of bliss. His adorable wide-eyed, mouth-gaping reaction when she told him he was going to be a father. The birth of Michael and, two years later, the birth of Beth. Michael getting married to a wonderful girl. Michael fumbling through the words of telling them they were going to be grandparents.

There were times of heartache as well. Michael’s wife miscarrying. The death of too many dear friends and colleagues over the years. The doctor telling her that she was unable to have more children after Beth. The doctor telling her husband that he was dying.

She looked at the passenger seat again and smiled through her tears. “It’s time, my love.”

She took the urn in her hands, hugging it to her breast as she exited the car. Leaning back in, she turned up the radio, letting the song fill the air as she walked to the pier.

> _So don't let them begin the beguine_    
>  _Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember;_  
>  _Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember_  
>    _When they begin the beguine._

She stood above the water, just as she had more than thirty years ago, holding the man she loved in her hands. When she lost Steve, she thought she never would find love again. She’d never been more wrong in her life. 

Daniel Sousa was too good to be true, too good for her, she’d thought so many times. He was kind, compassionate, intelligent and loving. The yin to her yang. The voice of reason to her impulsiveness. He’d delivered her from the brink of death many times. She wished over and over that she could return the favor just this one last time. Her wish didn’t come true. They had so many good years together yet it was not enough.

> _Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play_  
>  _Till the stars that were there before return above you,_  
>  _Till you whisper to me once more,_  
>  _"Darling, I love you!"_    
>  _And we suddenly know, what heaven we're in,_    
>  _When they begin the beguine_

She opened the urn and tipped it, watching through her tears as the ashes flowed out. The gentle wind whipped the ashes like a light smoke, whirling them up then letting them falling toward the water. This is where he would want to be in the end, where their wonderful life together began.

“I will always love you, Daniel. You are finally at peace.”


End file.
